Friday Bolts – 8.19.11

Perk plead not guilty to his Texas charges: “Oklahoma City Thunder starting center Kendrick Perkins pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct and is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 30. According to documents released to The Associated Press on Thursday after an open records request, Perkins entered his plea by mail through attorney Langston Adams. He was arrested just after 2 a.m. Saturday in Beaumont, Texas, where an event for his charitable foundation was being held.”

Henry Abbott of TrueHoop on the league’s best finishers at the rim: “For instance, you can look up Kevin Durant, and then see how he finishes at the rim, from three to nine feet, from ten to fifteen feet, from fifteen to 23 feet, and from 3-point land. That can quickly get interesting. If you looked up that particular thing, for instance, you’d notice that Durant made 217 of his 281 attempts at the rim last season, for a mighty 77 percent. That seems high, right? How high?”

How the Goodman-Drew League game came together: “From there, Durant and Golden State Warriors guard Dorell Wright started talking and making phone calls to players, then Rawls and Smiley approached some of the best players from their respective leagues after games and got commitments.”

Mike Prada of SB Nation ranks all 30 coaches and has Scott Brooks 10th: “Let’s get one thing straight about Brooks: you don’t lead a team of college-aged kids to the Western Conference Finals without knowing what you’re doing. Brooks’ ability to manage egos and simplify his concepts to ensure his players had clear benchmarks was genius. But as the playoffs showed, Brooks still has a ways to go when it comes to designing a cohesive offensive system. He will need to improve this area to guide Oklahoma City on its biggest step yet.”